Mk2 VR Motorsport Build - Page 2

catapultkid · 07-15-2010, 03:40 AM

Time to paint was getting closer and closer however there were a bunch of odds and ends that needed to be taken care of. I still had to wet sand the car, taking days, then ran into a few areas that still needed straightening. I figured after all this work I better go ahead and do it right the first time. I moved everything out of the room and power washed it with my brother’s help. I had been doing all of the priming up until this point, but asked Tony to help with the top coat. The first time there was some MAJOR problems with the paint and it ran all over the place. This required several more weeks being spent in my spare time to wet sand everything back down again. Once the exterior did get shot I was able to concentrate on the interior. First shot with Gravel Guard then top coat right after it, came out nice I think and seems to be durable.

audisnapr · 07-15-2010, 03:07 PM

wow Paul - look awesome. Kudos to you for the amount of detail you've put into the project. I really like the direction you are going with this. As my college instructors always used to say, "looks good. keep going."

DeckManDubs · 07-15-2010, 08:49 PM

Looking good!

catapultkid · 08-24-2010, 03:24 AM

Its time to play catch up. The thread is still not completely up to date, but its getting closer. Thank you guys for the postive feedback!

Next was putting stuff back on the car. Honestly it had been awhile and I didn’t keep the best organization when filing it away the first time. The first thing I wanted to tackle was my new shifter. I was toying with the idea of buying a VWMS shifter and using that as the base. However looking at what audisnapper had come up with and a quick revamp of the stroke and placement I wanted, I quickly found how easy it was to do it myself. I spend about 25 dollars in material and a little time on the lathe and was able to pull something workable out of about a day and a half. Top of 1st to the bottom of 2nd is about 2.5 inches. Still need to add some kind of reverse lockout since first is very close to reverse right now. Side to side 1st to 2nd is roughly 3/4 of an inch. Push start and fan switches are on the shifter tower.
Once in place I decided to re-do the wiring. I wasn’t happy with it running inside the engine compartment and also wanted to go thru every circuit again to make sure it was right. I wired a fuse panel where the glove box was, another idea taken from our friends in the corrado. While I was in there I also pulled the EGR system and ISV out and installed the OEM diagnostics. I figured it would simplify everything under the bonnet a little more and I would be able to check up on the ECU.
Also at this time decided to tackle getting the cage painted and installed correctly. This was a bit of a pain in the rear, but it didn’t turn out half bad. Now I could install the dash, a knee bar that I had modified to fit and seats all to check placement. For the most part it went smoothly.

audisnapr · 08-24-2010, 02:28 PM

nice work Paul! Very clean shifter setup - I really like the direction this build has been going and glad to see it's only getting better.

I've also been toying with the idea of increasing the distance from the pivot point down to the lower linkage to decrease the throw even more. When you get to it, give us some feedback on the feel of the shifter through the gears. I had feared making the throw too short could cause a lot of missed shifts, but after our Watkins Glen event and no missed shifts, I figure we can push it even more (similar to yours). This of course means a new base for us - I see carbon fiber in our future

Anyway - once again, great work. Keep it coming.

<edit> btw, if you don't mind, I'm gonna grab your shifter pics and add them to my "ms shifter" gallery to use as reference: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

audisnapr · 08-24-2010, 03:04 PM

how did you bolt the shift tower to the car? cap bolts with nuts inside the tunnel?

catapultkid · 08-24-2010, 08:23 PM

I cant speak on how the shifter feels when running the car thru the gears just yet as it doesnt run. However, so far it feels very quick and responsive. I hopefully can give you an update to this very shortly. I know the biggest thing with adding 7.5" to the bottom of the shifter is the amount of side to side swing the bottom cable has to travel. Be sure to account for that in the design, I lengthen the top swing arm .5 inch to gain shorter side to side throw and reduce the amount of cable flex, notice where the cables attach to the rear. Also obvisously the panels front and rear really strengthen up the tower.

Attaching the shifter to the car is as you have described, stainless cap bolts lock washers and nuts on the back side.

audisnapr · 08-27-2010, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catapultkid

Attaching the shifter to the car is as you have described, stainless cap bolts lock washers and nuts on the back side.

consider getting some nutserts to mount the shifter base. I've removed the shifter tower a few times now for various reasons - it really sucks having to get under the car - not to mention it takes two people unless you are creative like I've had to be - and the exhaust is in the way... and...